Swipe linear image sensor with analog and digital summation and corresponding method

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to scanning linear image sensors with signal integration, in which an image of a line of points from an observed scene is reconstructed by the addition of successive images taken by a plurality of photosensitive lines which successively observe the same line of the scene as the scene moves across the sensor perpendicularly to the lines. The sensor according to the invention uses charge transfer pixels (P m,i,j ) grouped into M groups of N lines; an analog charge summation is carried out in each group; and the results of this summation are read by read circuits (READ m ) associated with each group, and then digitized and added to those of the other groups.

The invention relates to scanning linear image sensors with signalintegration (or TDI sensors, from the expression “Time Delay IntegrationLinear Sensors”), in which an image of a line of points from an observedscene is reconstructed by the addition of successive images taken by aplurality of photosensitive lines which successively observe the sameline of the scene as the scene moves across the sensor perpendicularlyto the lines.

These sensors are used, for example, in satellite-based earthobservation systems. They comprise a plurality of parallel lines ofphotosensitive pixels; the sequencing of the control circuits of thedifferent lines (for controlling the exposure time and the time forreading the photogenerated charges) is synchronized with respect to therelative movement of the scene and the sensor, in such a way that allthe lines of the sensor see a single line of the observed scene. Thegenerated signals are then added in a point to point manner for eachpoint of the observed line.

The theoretical signal/noise ratio is improved in the ratio of thesquare root of the number N of lines of the sensor. This number can varyfrom a few lines to about a hundred, depending on the application(industrial control, terrestrial observation, panoramic dentalradiography or mammography).

In charge transfer sensors (CCD sensors), the signals are added point bypoint in a natural way without reading noise, by dumping into a line ofpixels the charges generated and accumulated in the preceding line ofpixels, in synchronization with the relative movement of the scene andthe sensor. The last line of pixels, having accumulated N times thecharges generated by the observed scene line, can then be transferredtoward an output register and converted, during a read step, intoelectric current or voltage.

Charge transfer sensors of this type are already in use in conventionaltechnologies with adjacent transfer gates made from at least two levelsof polycrystalline silicon, the second level partially covering thefirst, and also in technologies with a single polycrystalline silicongate level, which are more compatible with present-day methods offabricating CMOS logic integrated circuits.

Clearly, if each pixel has to be capable of storing the chargesresulting from the addition of charges received from N pixels, it musthave a much higher storage capacity than if it only had to store its owncharges. Otherwise there would be a risk of saturation of the pixel. Toavoid this, the size of the pixel would have to be increased, therebyadversely affecting the resolution of the sensor.

In order to carry out charge integration without excessive noise whileallowing the addition of charges without excessive risk of saturation ofthe pixels receiving the accumulated charges from the other pixels, theinvention proposes a method for the operation of a scanning image sensorwith summation, allowing the synchronized reading of the same image linesuccessively by a plurality of lines of P photosensitive pixels and thepixel to pixel summation of the signals read by the different lines andcorresponding to the same image line. In this method, it is proposedthat the lines of pixels be divided into a plurality of groups; withineach group of lines, the summation is performed in an analog manner bycharge transfer from pixel to pixel (in columns) with progressiveaccumulation of the charges corresponding to the same image point; thecharges of the pixels of the last line of each group are read by a readcircuit which is associated with this last line; the read circuitperforms a charge-to-voltage conversion for each pixel; the analogsignal resulting from this conversion is sent by a column conductor (thenumber of column conductors being equal to the number of pixels perline) toward a corresponding digitization circuit which establishes foreach column a digital value corresponding to each analog signal, inother words to each group of lines, and a plurality of digital values,corresponding to respective groups of lines which have seen the sameimage line during the scan, are added together in each column.

Thus a low-noise analog summation by charge transfer and accumulation ina group of pixels is combined with a digital summation of the results ofthe analog summations, all these summations relating to the same imageline observed during the scan.

More precisely, the invention proposes a scanning image sensor withsummation, allowing the synchronized reading of the same image line by aplurality of lines of P photosensitive pixels successively and the pixelto pixel summation of the signals read by the different lines,characterized in that the sensor comprises:

-   -   an array of M groups of N lines of P pixels producing charges        proportional to the illumination, these pixels being arranged in        P charge transfer registers in a column of rank j, where j        varies from 1 to P, allowing the progressive accumulation, in a        pixel of rank j of the N-th line of pixels of a group of rank m        (m=1 to M), of the charges collected in the N pixels of rank j        of this group,    -   within the array of pixels, M lines of P read circuits for        reading the charges collected in the P pixels of the N-th line        of a group of pixels, the read circuits of a line of rank m        being positioned in line and each read circuit of rank j (j=1        to P) of this line being connected to a respective column        conductor of rank j common to all the read circuits of rank j of        the different lines, in order to provide on this conductor an        analog electrical signal based on the charges accumulated in the        pixels of rank j of the N-th line of any group of lines of        pixels,    -   outside the array of pixels, M lines of P digitization circuits,        the digitization circuit of rank j of this line comprising a        sampler for sampling an analog signal present on the column        conductor of rank j, and an analog-digital converter for        supplying a digital value of the analog signal, and    -   a means of summation of digital values capable of adding        together digital values obtained from the converters and        corresponding to the sampling of a plurality of analog signals        all corresponding to the observation of the same image point of        rank j in an observed image line.

This structure combines the summation of analog charges, with low noise,on N successive lines, with the digital summation of the results of theanalog summations, this digital summation allowing a high speed to beachieved.

The read circuits placed after each group of N lines of pixels arecharge-to-voltage conversion circuits by means of which a potentialrepresenting the charges accumulated by N pixels in a column can betransferred to a column conductor. These read circuits include, inprinciple, a charge storage node, a transfer transistor for dumping thecharges of a pixel of an N-th line toward the storage node, a transistorfor reinitializing the potential of the storage node, a followertransistor for generating a potential representing the quantity ofcharges in the storage node, and a line selection transistor forselecting a line of read circuits among M and connecting the followertransistor of the read circuits of this line to a respective columnconductor at the moment when the potentials are to be sampled in adigitization circuit.

The sampler forming part of an elementary digitization circuitpreferably comprises means for initially storing a voltage referencelevel following a reinitialization pulse applied to the reinitializationtransistor of a read circuit, and then storing a signal level followinga transfer pulse applied to the transfer transistor; the analog-digitalconverter then converts the difference between these two levels. Thereinitialization pulse and the transfer pulse are preferably common toall the read circuits of the M lines and the periodicity of these pulsescorresponds to the time taken for the integration of charges in a lineof pixels.

The summation means is preferably distributed in the digitizationcircuits. Thus there is an elementary summation means in the elementarydigitization circuit of rank j of the line of rank m; this adds acurrent digital value, obtained from the conversion of an analogsummation of charges of the group of lines of rank m, to a digital valuepreviously obtained from the group of digitization circuits of rank m−1.

The analog-digital converter present in each digitization circuit ispreferably a ramp converter comprising a comparator and a counter, withthe counter counting at a fixed rate until the comparator is trippedwhen a voltage ramp is applied to an input of the comparator. The outputof the counter of a digitization circuit of rank m in line and of rank jin column is preferably connected to an input of the counter of adigitization circuit of the same rank j in column and of rank m+1 inline so that the content of said counter of the circuit of rank m+1 atthe end of the ramp corresponds to the addition of the quantity of lightreceived by a group of N pixels and to the preceding content of thecounter of rank m (corresponding to another group of N pixels which haveseen the same image point).

It is possible to arrange for the line of read circuits to beincorporated in a line of pixels which may or may not be photosensitive,constructed so as to allow, in a selective way, either the transfer ofcharges between a last line of pixels of a group of N lines and a firstline of pixels of the following group, or the dumping of charges fromthe last line of pixels of one group toward a storage node for thereading and digitization of the dumped charges.

In a specific embodiment, a means is provided for detecting the quantityof charges present in the pixel of rank j of the N-th line of pixels ofa group of pixels of rank m, together with a means for reading thesecharges in the read circuit of rank m in line and of rank j in column ifthe quantity of charges exceeds a threshold, or for transferring thesecharges, without reading them, toward the first line of pixels of thegroup of pixels of rank m+1 if the quantity of charges is below thisthreshold.

The line of read circuits can be integrated in the N-th line ofphotosensitive pixels.

It should be noted that the summation of the digital value correspondingto the pixel of rank j of the line in an accumulator register of rank jwhich accumulates the digital values corresponding to the pixels of thesame rank j of N successive lines has already been proposed (in patentFR 2 906 080). In this method, the pixels are active CMOS pixels(instead of charge transfer pixels) in which a charge-to-voltageconversion is performed within the pixel. The resulting analog voltageis converted to digital form and the additions of signals for signalintegration synchronized with the scanning are digital additions of thesignals obtained from the pixel. These conversions and digital additionsgive rise to a very high level of noise which the present inventionreduces considerably by reducing the number of digital additions, whilekeeping a larger total number of summations.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be revealedby the following detailed description which refers to the attacheddrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the general architecture of the image sensor according tothe invention,

FIG. 2 shows a variant of the architecture, and

FIG. 3 shows a detail of a variant in which the read circuits areintegrated with a line of photosensitive pixels.

FIG. 1 shows the general architecture of the sensor. The upper part ofthe diagram is the photosensitive part. It comprises M groups of N linesof P photosensitive pixels. The groups are numbered from 1 to M. A groupof lines of pixels is denoted by TDI with a subscript from 1 to M: TDI₁to TDI_(M). A respective read circuit is placed between each twoconsecutive groups, as follows: READ₁ is associated with the group TD1 ₁and located between the latter and the group TDI₂; similarly, READ₂ isassociated with the group TDI₂, and so on until READ_(M) located afterthe group TDI_(M) and associated with the latter. A circuit READ_(o) mayoptionally be provided before the group TDI₁ if it is desirable for thesensor to operate equally well in either direction of scanning.

Each group TDI_(m), where m is the subscript denoting a group among M,is composed of an array of N lines and P columns; by convention, thepixel P_(m,i,j) is located in the group of rank m (where m varies from 1to M) at the intersection of the line of rank i, where i varies from 1to N, with the column of rank j (where j varies from 1 to P). The gridof pixels is a grid operating in column charge transfer mode; in otherwords, after each unit integration time with a duration of T, thecharges present in a line of pixels of rank i, including the chargesgenerated by the illumination of this line during the time T, are dumpedinto the line of immediately higher rank, i+1; this is donesimultaneously for all the lines, in such a way that the charges of theimmediately preceding line of rank i−1 are dumped into the line of ranki and replace those which were dumped into the line of rank i+1. For thefirst line, the charges that have been discharged are not replaced, andtherefore at the end of an integration time there are only the chargesresulting from the integration of the light in the pixels during thetime T; for a line of rank i, the charges present in the line at the endof an integration time with a duration of T are the sum of the chargesintegrated in the lines of ranks 1 to i during the i integration timeswhich have just elapsed. The image is moved relative to the sensor insynchronization with the time T, in such a way that the i lines ofpixels have seen the same image line during the i periods T.

The charges of the last line, corresponding to the accumulation of Nobservations of the same image line, are dumped after each integrationtime in the read circuit READ_(M) so that they can be read there; itwill be seen that, in a preferred embodiment, it is possible to choosewhether to read the charges (and then destroy them) or, conversely, totransfer them toward the group of lines of the next rank m+1 in order tocontinue the integration, the latter transfer being useful where theillumination is weak.

The arrangements of photosensitive pixels which allow charge transfer inthis way are well known; they use a plurality of electrodes for eachline of pixels, these electrodes extending along the lines of pixels andbeing supplied with potentials which alternate between two values whichare the same for each line of pixels, in such a way that the movementsof charges from one line to another are simultaneous for all the linesof a group, and even for all the lines of the different groups. Theelectrodes control the formation of potential wells and potentialbarriers, and also the movement of charges from one well to another.These electrodes are not shown, and all the control signals or “controlphases” of the electrodes which provide the charge transferssynchronized with the scanning of the image are simply denoted by theterm Φ_(TDI). The Φ_(TDI) phases are identical for all the lines ofpixels of all the groups of lines.

Some conventional charge transfer pixel technologies use two levels ofpolycrystalline silicon gates with the first level partially covered bythe second level (in order to provide more efficient charge transfer).Other, more recent, technologies use only one level of polycrystallinesilicon; these have the advantage of being more compatible with the MOSor CMOS transistor integrated circuit technologies, and thesetechnologies are preferred because the architecture of the sensoraccording to the invention requires the use of MOS transistor readcircuits.

The read circuit READ_(m) associated with the group TDI_(m) comprises Pelementary read circuits READ_(m,j), one for each column of pixels inthe array TDI_(m).

Each elementary read circuit of rank j (j=1 to j=P) is a transistorcircuit which performs a charge-to-voltage conversion so as to transferto a column conductor Ccj of rank j a potential representing thequantity of charges present in the pixel of rank j of the last line ofthe group TDI_(m). By contrast with the read circuits used inconventional charge transfer arrays, therefore, the read circuit is nota “horizontal” charge transfer shift register which collects the chargesfrom the last line of the array and sends them toward a singleconversion circuit.

The detail of an elementary read circuit READ_(1,j) (associated with thefirst group TDI₁) of column rank j is shown in FIG. 1. It comprises anintermediate storage node ND where the charges from pixel P_(1,N,j) ofrank N of the group TDI₁ will be dumped, a transfer transistor T1 forperforming this dump, a reinitialization transistor T2 for dischargingthe charges from the storage node after a dump, a follower transistor T3for converting the charges to voltage, and a group selection transistorT4 for connecting the follower transistor to the column conductor Ccjwhen a potential representing the charges accumulated in the storagenode is to be transferred to this conductor.

A second transfer transistor T5 is provided if necessary fortransferring the charges from the storage node in the reverse direction(from the group TDI₂ toward the read circuit READ₁).

The transfer transistor T1, controlled by a signal TRAa, connects acharge storage area of the pixel of the last line to the storage node ND(a floating diffusion). The reinitialization transistor, controlled by asignal RST, connects the storage node to a discharge drain at areference potential. The gate of the follower transistor T3 is connectedto the storage node, its drain is connected to a power supply potential,and its source is connected to the drain of the selection transistor T4.The selection transistor, controlled by a selection signal SEL₁ (for theread circuit READ_(1,j)), connects the source of the follower transistorT3 to the column conductor Ccj. The selection signal SEL₁ is common tothe whole line of read circuits READ_(1,j).

The second transfer transistor T5, if present, can be made conducting bya signal TRAb.

The read circuit READ_(m) occupies a height, in the direction of thecolumns of pixels, equal to the height of a line of pixels or a multipleof this height, thus making it possible to maintain synchronizationbetween the scanning of an image line and the integration times T whenan image line passes successively across the different groups of lines.

This completes the description of the photosensitive part of the sensor.

The lower part of the diagram in FIG. 1 shows the digitization anddigital summation part of the sensor. This part comprises a number oflines of digitization circuits equal to the number of groups of lines ofpixels, in other words equal to M. The lines of the digitizationcircuits are denoted ADC₁ to ADC_(M). Each line comprises P elementarydigitization circuits ADC_(m,j). Digital summation circuits are alsoprovided for performing additions based on the outputs of thedigitization circuits.

The inputs of the elementary digitization circuits of ranks j=1 to j=Pare the column conductors Ccj.

The potentials resulting from the addition of N quantities of chargescorresponding to the same image point are applied to a column conductorof rank j by means of the elementary read circuits. A potential isapplied to the column conductor successively for the different groups oflines of pixels and this is done on each occasion for all the columns ofpixels simultaneously, because there are P elementary read circuitsoperating in parallel, each associated with a respective columnconductor. The repetition interval of the potential transfers to thecolumn conductor for each group of N lines is the integration time T,and all the groups must be read successively during this time T.

At each time T, therefore, the read sequence comprises the successiveaddressing of the read circuits READ₁ to READ_(M) for the successivetransfer to the column conductor of the data obtained from the last lineof rank N of each of the M groups of lines of pixels.

The read circuit selection signals, SEL₁ to SEL_(M), therefore follow insequence. The reinitialization signals RST can be common to the wholesensor; alternatively, they can be separate. The transfer signals TRAaor TRAb are common to the whole sensor.

Each line of digitization circuits ADC₁ to ADC_(M) is associated with arespective line of read circuits READ₁ to READ_(M). The line ofdigitization circuits of rank m is put into operation for the purpose ofdigitization when the column conductor receives the potential to bedigitized from the read circuit of rank m. For this purpose, thedigitization circuits ADC_(m) are controlled by the same selectionsignal SEL_(m) as that used to select the read circuits of rank m.

FIG. 1 shows the detail of a possible example of an elementarydigitization circuit ADC_(1,j) of column rank j and line rank 1,associated with the elementary read circuit READ_(1,j) of the same rank.It comprises a sample and hold circuit designed to perform a doublesampling, and a ramp-type analog-digital converter. The samplercomprises two capacitors, C1 and C2, and transistor switches; the rampconverter comprises a counter CPT which counts at a constant rate set bya clock CLK and a comparator CMP which controls the stopping of thecounter.

The capacitor C1 of the sampler is connected at one end to a referencepotential and at the other end to a switch which can connect it to thecolumn conductor Ccj. This switch is controlled by a first signal SHR₁common to the P samplers of the line of rank 1.

The capacitor C2 receives at one end a linear ramp voltage starting fromthe same reference potential as that used for the capacitor C1. At itsother end it is connected by a switch to the column conductor Ccj. Thisswitch is controlled by a signal SHR₁ common to the whole line of rank1.

However, the capacitors are not directly connected to the columnconductor by the two aforementioned switches. A selection switchcontrolled by the signal SEL₁ makes it possible to connect thecapacitors only during the selection of the line concerned, in this casethe line of rank 1.

The sampling for a given line ADC_(m) of digitization circuits takesplace in two steps, as follows:

-   -   a) after the reinitialization of the storage nodes ND of the        read circuits, the line is selected, the signal SHR for the line        is established and the reinitialization level corresponding to        this line is therefore stored in the capacitor C1, this level        being present at this moment on the column conductor because of        the read circuit of the same rank READ_(m), and these operations        are repeated for all the lines of ranks 1 to m;    -   b) there is a global charge transfer for the whole array (TRAa)        toward the storage nodes, and the line is again selected        (SEL_(m) active), the signal SHS_(m) for the line is established        and the useful signal level corresponding to this line is        therefore stored in the capacitor C2, this level being present        on the column conductor because of the read circuit READ_(m)        which is again selected, and these operations are then repeated        for all the lines.

At this stage, the capacitors contain, for each elementary circuit ofeach line 1 to m, a reinitialization potential level and a useful signalpotential level. The terminals of the capacitors charged by these levelsare connected to the inputs of the comparator CMP.

A conversion ramp RMP applied to the capacitor C2 is then triggered forthe whole array. It is assumed at this point that the useful signalpotential is more negative than the reference potential and a voltageramp rising from the reference potential is used; the referencepotential represents a maximum possible level for the useful signal.

The counting by the counter CPT is triggered at the same time as thestart of the ramp is triggered. The ramp causes the potential to rise atone input of the comparator. When the potential at this input reachesthe potential at the other input, the comparator switches and interruptsthe counting. The final content of the counter is a digital valueproportional to the difference between the useful potential level andthe reinitialization level. It therefore represents the result ofdigitization with correlated double sampling.

The conversion is performed simultaneously for all the digitizationcircuits of the sensor. The clock CLK is common to all of them. The rampRMP can also be common to all the circuits. The conversion is performedperiodically with the period T between the moment when all thecapacitors C2 have been charged to a useful value and the moment whennew reinitialization values start to be read in the read circuits.

At this moment, all the counters of the digitization circuits contain adigital value. The charge shift and integration operation requires theaddition of all the digital values corresponding to the observation ofthe same image point by the different pixels of the same column ofpixels of the sensor.

The digital values are therefore extracted from the counters for thepurpose of this summation.

In the general case, the digital values stored in the various countersof the same column do not correspond to the same image point, becausethere is a time shift of N periods between the observation of an imagepoint by the read circuit of rank m and the read circuit of rank m+1.

The contents of the individual counters must therefore be stored andthen added to contents which correspond to the same image point. Thisstorage is carried out in a memory MEM for each line. The contents ofthe counters are reset to zero after they have been read, because theyhave to receive a new data element at each period T.

The digital addition is performed by an adder ADD under the control of asequencer SEQ which determines which additions are to be performed inorder to add up the digital data corresponding to the same image point.The output S of the adder represents the desired image.

Since the sequencing of the additions is relatively complicated andrequires a large memory capacity, it may be preferable, in a differentembodiment, not to reset the contents of the counter to zero after aread, but to load into the counter, before each conversion, an initialvalue which already represents an accumulation of the digital valuesobtained for the same image point by the preceding groups of N lines.The counter then counts from this initial value, and its final contentrepresents a supplementary accumulation for this image point. Thiscontent is transmitted to the next line of digitization circuits, butwith a delay of N×T corresponding to the shift of N lines of pixels, forthe purpose of loading an initial value into the next counter at themoment when the latter is required to convert a value stillcorresponding to the same image point. This process continues in thesame way with the counters of the last line of digitization circuit, allcontaining an accumulation of M digital values all corresponding to thesame image point, these M digital values being themselves conversions ofcharges which are the accumulation of charges supplied by N pixels whichhave seen the same image point.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of this solution: a line of rank m ofdigitization circuits is separated from the next line of rank m+1 by Nlines of digital registers operating as shift registers in the verticaldirection with a shift period T: the content of the line counters ofrank m is transferred into the first line of registers, and then at eachperiod the contents of the registers of one line advance into the nextline. At the end of N periods, the content of the last line of registersis applied as the digital initialization value to the counters of theline of digitization circuits of rank m+1. During the conversion, thecounters count from this value.

The group of N lines of digital registers following the line ofdigitization circuits ADC_(m) is denoted SHIFTREG_(m). There are noshift registers after the line ADC_(M) because the counters of this linecontain the accumulation of digital values which is required.

The detail of an elementary digitization circuit ADC_(2,j) of line rank2 and column rank j is shown; it is similar to that of FIG. 1 andoperates in the same way, but there is an initialization input for thecounter, this input receiving the output of the N-th line of the shiftregister of the preceding rank SHIFTREG₁; the output of the counter isconnected to the first line of registers of the shift register of thefollowing rank SHIFTREG₂.

For the circuit of FIG. 1, as for that of FIG. 2, it will be evidentthat, if a bidirectional scanning sensor is required, the additionalread circuit READ₀ is necessary, and the synchronization of theselection of the read circuit and of the corresponding digitizationcircuit will clearly have to be reconfigured: for scanning in theopposite direction to that which has been described, the first line, ofrank 1, of the group of rank m contains the accumulation of Nacquisitions of the same line and it is the read circuit of rank m−1that will read this accumulation, but it is the line of digitizationcircuits of rank m that will digitize this accumulation. Consequently,unless a supplementary line of rank 0 is provided for the digitization,the selection signal SEL of the read circuits of rank m−1 must besynchronized with the selection signal of the digitization circuits ofrank m. In the other direction, the selection of the read circuits ofrank m was synchronized with the selection of the digitization circuitsof rank m.

In the preceding text it was assumed that the line of read circuitsREAD_(m) was a line of electrical circuitry containing only the storagenode and the five transistors mentioned. The line of read circuits couldequally well be arranged as a line in the form of a charge transfer areaallowing direct transfer between two groups of N lines. In this case, itis unnecessary to provide the transfer transistors TRAa and TRAb; theseare replaced by normal transfer gates between pixels. It is alsopossible to arrange the line of read circuits as a line ofphotosensitive pixels in which part of the surface which would normallybe reserved for the generation of photosensitive charges is used tohouse a storage node electrically isolated from the rest of thephotosensitive surface.

FIG. 3 shows this solution. The area of passage between two successivegroups of N lines, of rank m and m+1 for example, can be seen here. Asingle column of pixels of rank j is shown, with pixels P_(m,N−1,j) (thepenultimate line of group m), P_(m,N,j) (the last line), P_(m+1,1,j) etP_(m+1,2,j) (the first and second lines of the next group m+1). Thereinitialization transistor T2, the follower transistor T3, and theselection transistor T4, which form part of the read circuit of rank m,are shown next to the N-th pixel P_(m,N,j).

The pixels are shown symbolically as photon capture areas 10 separatedby transfer gates 12, but in reality the pixels may be more complex.

The surface of the N-th pixel is partially used to create a chargestorage node ND (which may be an N+ type diffusion in a substrate P).This node ND is isolated by a gate 14 which acts as the transfer gateTRAa mentioned with reference to FIG. 1, in other words a gate fortransferring the charges from the N-th pixel toward the storage node.The node is connected to the gate of the follower transistor T3 and tothe source of the reinitialization transistor as explained withreference to FIG. 1.

It can be seen that, with this arrangement, the charges stored in theN-th pixel naturally travel toward the first pixel of the next group oflines, unless they are deflected toward the storage node. The gate 14can be controlled selectively to allow the charges to pass through, tocontinue an accumulation of analog charges, or to deflect them towardthe storage node for the purpose of digitizing them. In particular, itis possible to arrange for the charges to be allowed to pass if thequantity of charges is small, and to be deflected toward the storagenode if the quantity is large. In the first case, the charges proceedalong their path and accumulate with the charges from the pixels of thelines of the next group; they do not undergo analog-digital conversionand are not added digitally; they continue to be accumulated in ananalog manner with low noise. In the second case, the charges aredigitized and a digital summation is performed.

It is also possible to use an appropriate polarization of the gate 14 totest the quantity of charges present in the pixel: constant polarizationof the gate 14 is chosen to make some of the charges in the N-th pixel,above a quantity threshold, overflow naturally into the storage node;the potential of the storage node is then detected in order to test thepresence of a charge dump; if there has been a natural dump it isconsidered that there are too many charges, and therefore the chargesmust be read, digitized and added digitally to the charges digitized forother groups of lines of pixels; in this case, a signal for the completeopening of the barrier between the N-th pixel and the storage node isapplied to the gate, and the collected charges are read. On the otherhand, if no charge dump is detected, it is considered that analogintegration into the next group of lines can be continued, and thecharges contained in the N-th pixel are not read; the charges move fromthe N-th pixel of the group m toward the first pixel of the next group.

The solution in which the N-th photosensitive line is used as the readline is only possible if the pixels are large enough to contain both acharge storage surface and the transistors of the read circuit, withoutperturbing the transfer of charges from the (N−1)-th pixel toward theN-th pixel and from the latter toward the next group of lines. It shouldbe noted that the storage surface 10 of the N-th pixel is notnecessarily photosensitive; it may be masked by an opaque layer, and inthis case the integration of charges only takes place on N−1 pixels, butthe storage surface is formed as if it were a photosensitive pixel ofthe charge transfer type, in other words one allowing the transfer ofthe charges from the group of lines of rank m to the next group.

In these various embodiments, it is possible to arrange for the numberof lines N to vary from one group to another in certain cases. Clearly,the number of lines of digital registers in the embodiment of FIG. 2will still match the number of lines in the associated group of lines ofpixels.

The samplers have been described as if each had two capacitors, storingthe reinitialization level and the useful signal level respectively, butsamplers with a single capacitor storing the two levels successively maybe used.

It should be noted that the same image line has been convertedsuccessively by all the M digitization circuits, which averages out theconversion errors for all the pixels.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the read circuits can be testedindependently of the pixel array by sending a test sequence to the firstline of counters to check its propagation to the last line.

The sensor can be adapted to the average light level by the modificationof the gradient of the converter ramp.

Another way of adapting to the average light level is to reduce thenumber of digital conversion stages used, where the light level is high,and simply use the data added up in M′ stages (M′<M).

The sensor according to the invention can be constructed on a substrateof reduced thickness illuminated on the rear face (opposite the frontface on which the transistors of the sensor circuits are fabricated).

1. A scanning image sensor with summation, allowing a synchronizedreading of a same image line by a plurality of lines of P photosensitivepixels successively and allowing a pixel to pixel summation of signalsread by the different lines, wherein the sensor comprises: an array of Mgroups of N lines of P pixels producing charges proportional toillumination, these pixels being arranged in P columns, each column ofrank j, where j varies from 1 to P, comprising M respective chargetransfer registers, allowing progressive accumulation, in a pixel ofrank j of a N-th line of P pixels of a group of rank m, where m variesfrom 1 to M, of charges collected in the N pixels of rank j of thisgroup, within the array, M lines of P read circuits for reading chargescollected in the P pixels of the N-th line of a group of pixels, eachread circuit of rank j of a line of rank m being connected to arespective column conductor of rank j common to all the read circuits ofrank j of the different lines, in order to provide on this columnconductor an analog electrical signal based on the charges accumulatedin the pixel of rank j of the N-th line of any group of lines of pixels,outside the array of pixels, M lines of P digitization circuits, thedigitization circuit of rank j of a respective line of P digitizationcircuits comprising a sampler for sampling an analog signal present onsaid column conductor of rank j, and an analog-digital converter forsupplying a digital value of said analog signal, and a summation meansfor summing digital values, capable of adding together digital valuesobtained from the converters and corresponding to a sampling of aplurality of analog signals all corresponding to an observation of asame image point of rank j in an observed image line.
 2. The imagesensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein each read circuit comprises acharge-to-voltage conversion circuit by means of which a potentialrepresenting charges accumulated by N pixels in a same column can betransferred to said column conductor.
 3. The image sensor as claimed inclaim 2, wherein each read circuit includes a charge storage node, atransfer transistor for dumping the charges of a pixel of an N-th linetoward the storage node, a reinitialization transistor forreinitializing the potential of the storage node, a follower transistorfor generating a potential representing a quantity of charges in thestorage node, and a line selection transistor for selecting a line ofread circuits among M and connecting the follower transistor of the readcircuits of the selected line to a respective column conductor.
 4. Theimage sensor as claimed in claim 3, wherein the sampler forming part ofa digitization circuit comprises means for initially storing a voltagereference level following a reinitialization pulse applied to thereinitialization transistor of a read circuit, and then storing a signallevel following a transfer pulse applied to the transfer transistor. 5.The image sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the summation means isdistributed in the digitization circuits.
 6. The image sensor as claimedin claim 1, wherein the analog-digital converter present in eachdigitization circuit is a ramp converter comprising a comparator and acounter, with the counter counting at a fixed rate until the comparatoris tripped when a voltage ramp is applied to an input of the comparator.7. The image sensor as claimed in claim 6, wherein the counter of adigitization circuit of rank m in line and of rank j in column has anoutput connected to an initialization input of the counter of adigitization circuit of the same rank j in column and of rank m+1 inline so that said counter of the circuit of rank m+1 at the end of theramp has a content corresponding to the addition of a quantity of lightreceived by a group of N pixels and to a preceding content of thecounter of rank m, corresponding to another group of N pixels which haveseen the same image point.
 8. The image sensor as claimed in claim 1,wherein the line of read circuits is incorporated in a line of pixelswhich may or may not be photosensitive, constructed so as to allow, in aselective way, either a transfer of charges between a last line ofpixels of a group of N lines and a first line of pixels of a followinggroup, or a dumping of charges from the last line of pixels of one grouptoward a storage node for the reading and digitization of the dumpedcharges.
 9. The image sensor as claimed in claim 8, comprising in eachline of read circuits a means for detecting a quantity of chargespresent in the pixel of rank j of the N-th line of pixels of a group ofpixels of rank m, together with a means for reading these charges in theread circuit of rank m in line and of rank j in column if said quantityof charges exceeds a threshold, or for transferring said quantity ofcharges, without reading them, toward the first line of pixels of thegroup of pixels of rank m+1 if said quantity of charges is below saidthreshold.
 10. A method for the operation operating a scanning imagesensor with summation, allowing a synchronized reading of a same imageline successively by a plurality of lines of P photosensitive pixels anda pixel to pixel summation of signals read by the different lines andcorresponding to said same image line, wherein the sensor is dividedinto a plurality of groups of N lines of P charge transfer pixels and ineach group of lines summation is performed in an analog manner by chargetransfer in column from pixel to pixel with progressive accumulation ofcharges corresponding to a same image point, wherein charges of thepixels of a last line of each group are read by a read circuit which isassociated with said last line and which performs a charge-to-voltageconversion for each pixel, wherein further an analog signal resultingfrom said conversion is sent by a column conductor toward a respectivedigitization circuit which establishes for each column a digital valuecorresponding to each analog signal, and wherein a plurality of digitalvalues, corresponding to respective groups of lines which have seen saidsame image line during the scan, are added together in each column.